Over 30 families to party with the dinosaurs at the Science Museum tonight＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Will the dinosaur skeletons come to life at night and make trouble around the museum, as happened in the movie "Night at the Museum"? Over 30 families will find out later today (December 13) when they spend the night with the dinosaurs at the Hong Kong Science Museum.

"A Night with Dinosaurs" is a new family programme organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum to tie-in with its large-scale exhibition, "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs", and provides family groups with the unique experience of staying in the museum gallery through the night to explore the world of the dinosaurs in an interactive way.

Commenting on the programme, the Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Science Museum, Ms Karen Sit, said that there will be four sessions of "A Night with Dinosaurs". Other than the first session held tonight through tomorrow (December 13 and 14), three other sessions will be arranged for December 20 to 21, January 10 to 11 and January 17 to 18, next year. Each session will accommodate 36 children aged between 9 and 11 and each child is to be accompanied by an adult. The event has been well-received and the museum has already obtained more than 1,600 applications.

"The programme will begin at 7.30pm on the first night and finishes at 11.30am the next morning. During this period, the participants will take part in a variety of educational activities enabling them to learn more about dinosaurs from different perspectives. The evening programme finishes before midnight, and participants will be given sleeping places beneath the dinosaurs in the gallery," said Ms Sit.

"A Night with Dinosaurs offers a learning-with-fun platform to arouse the interest of participants in learning about dinosaurs and palaeontology. The programme includes a treasure hunt game, science demonstrations, an interactive drama show, a souvenir workshop and fun scientific laboratory activities. Furthermore, participants can imagine travelling back in time and soaring through the night sky of the prehistoric world inside an inflatable planetarium," she said.

With a floor area of 2 500 square metres, the "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs" exhibition is Hong Kong's largest and most diverse dinosaur exhibition to date. Divided into four sections - the Dinosaur Fossils Gallery, Multimedia Theatre, Robotic Dinosaurs Park and the Dinosaur Fossils Excavation Site - the exhibition features more than 190 exhibits, about half of which are fossilised dinosaur skeletons, vertebrae and eggs. Other highlights include life-size dinosaur models, robotic dinosaurs and interactive exhibits, taking visitors back to the prehistoric world of more than 200 million years ago and the creatures that dominated the planet for more than 100 million years.

Running from November 8 to April 9, next year, the "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs" exhibition is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum. The exhibition is solely sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and is the third exhibition in the 2013 Hong Kong Jockey Club Series. It is also one of the highlight programmes of "Vibrant Hong Kong" under the territory-wide "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign.

The standard admission fee for the exhibition is $20. Full-time students, people with disabilities and senior citizens aged 60 or above are eligible for half-price concessionary tickets at $10. Groups of 20 persons or above can obtain a 30 per cent discount, with each ticket priced at $14. The museum will also introduce special combined tickets for this exhibition. Visitors who purchase standard-rate tickets for the thematic exhibition and the permanent exhibition will get a $5 discount. The price of the combined ticket at standard rate is $40. Prices for the concessionary combined ticket and the group combined ticket are $20 and $28 respectively. Free admission on Wednesday is not applicable for this special exhibition.

The Hong Kong Science Museum is located at 2 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon. It is open from 10am to 7pm on weekdays, and from 10am to 9pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. On Christmas Eve, the museum will open at 10am and close at 5pm. It is closed on Thursdays (except public holidays) and the first two days of the Chinese New Year.

The first session of "A Night with Dinosaurs", a new family programme organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum in connection with the large-scale exhibition "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs", is being held tonight and tomorrow (December 13 and 14). Pictured are the Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Science Museum, Ms Sit Man (front row, second left), and the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Head of Charities Projects, Ms Rhoda Chan (front row, third left), along with the participants and the equestrian ambassador under Daxiatitan binglingi, the largest dinosaur model in the exhibition.

Participants of "A Night with Dinosaurs" learn more about dinosaurs through various fun-filled activities.

Children taking part in "A Night with Dinosaurs" listen to Ms Sit telling stories about dinosaurs before they go to sleep in the exhibition gallery.

Participants of "A Night with Dinosaurs" at the exhibition gallery.

Participants of "A Night with Dinosaurs" sleep beneath the dinosaurs in the exhibition gallery.

Participants of "A Night with Dinosaurs" sleep beneath the dinosaurs in the exhibition gallery.

Participants of "A Night with Dinosaurs" sleep beneath the dinosaurs in the exhibition gallery.